LA Galaxy acquire Jermaine Jones's MLS rights from Colorado Rapids

The LA Galaxy have acquired the rights to midfielder Jermaine Jones from the Colorado Rapids, the team announced Tuesday.

Jones, 35, has been a key figure in the U.S. men’s national team since 2010, and he joined MLS in 2014 after a 14-year career in Germany. His family has been living in Los Angeles since his arrival in the States.

The Galaxy sent their first-round pick in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft and a conditional second-round pick in the 2018 draft to the Rapids in exchange for his MLS rights. He still has to come to terms with the club, and it's unclear whether he'll secure a Designated Player deal, such as the one he had with the New England Revolution. He took a significant pay cut to join the Rapids but expressed a desire for a more lucrative deal in the aftermath of the club's elimination in the Western Conference final.

The Galaxy have a pair of DP spots open after the departures of Robbie Keane and Steven Gerrard.

“People know that I came to this league as a (Designated Player) and this is where I want to go back to,” Jones told the Denver Post. “I’m a free agent now. I will sit back and see what comes. I’m not scared to go back to Europe or scared to go to Mexico or somewhere.

“This season was special. My situation was completely different before the season and I said, ‘I don’t care about money,’ and I come and I want to play and I want to show people that I can be an impact player.”

Jones, a defensive midfielder, made 13 appearances for the Rapids, recording three goals and three assists as Colorado reached the conference final against eventual champion Seattle. He has 47 career appearances in MLS, including his tenure with the Revolution that included a 2014 run to the MLS Cup final, which the Galaxy won.